From November 5-11, Canadians will join together to celebrate Veterans’ Week to honour our veterans and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The week also reminds us of the great debt we owe the courageous men and women who have always been there to serve and defend our great country. 

Our Veterans answered the world’s call in the two Great Wars and in Korea and they answered the call on every peacekeeping mission and military operation since. 

They distinguished themselves as the best in the world and they helped to define us as a nation.

That is their proud tradition, and it is a tradition that our men and women in uniform bravely continue today in Afghanistan and other troubled places around the world. 

Like those who came before them, today’s Canadian Forces Members put their lives on hold in order to defend the principles and values we all hold dear.

And that is why Veterans’ Week is so important.  It is a time when we stop to reflect on what our Veterans have accomplished.  And what they have sacrificed.

Our Veterans do not seek glory or honour—because that is already theirs. They seek only remembrance—for the comrades who never returned home with them. For the men and women they vowed never to forget.

It is our duty never to forget them.
 
In the end, that is all our Veterans really ask of us.

One way our Government encourages Canadians to remember is through the Veterans’ Week vignette which is a tribute to the men and women who served and continue to serve Canada in times of war and peace.  It also serves to educate all Canadians about our Veterans and the importance of remembrance. You can view the Veterans’ Week vignette online at http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general.

You can also attend one of the many Remembrance Day ceremonies taking place in Newmarket and Aurora which provide a wonderful opportunity to remember our troops, past and present, for their courage, sacrifice and defense of Canadian values.

On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Canadian government, I want to thank those who have served, and who continue to serve our country.

Lest we forget.